International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
641 Articles
International Law is Meant to Prevent What’s Happening in Yemen–On Humanitarian Relief Operations and Starvation
Every day brings worse news from Yemen. This morning, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced that water and sewage systems in three cities in Yemen – Hodeidah,…
Congress Steps Up Accountability for Drones Strikes and Other Military Operations
On the same day that The New York Times Magazine published a disturbing account of the monumental gap between the number of acknowledged civilian casualties and the number of casualties…
The Internationalists Mini-Forum: Why Has War Declined?
(This piece is the first of several on Just Security examining The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World, written by Just Security editorial…
Lethal Autonomous Weapons and Policy-Making Amid Disruptive Technological Change
(In Part I of this post on UN talks on lethal autonomous weapons, I discussed how the underlying artificial intelligence that enables autonomous systems is improving rapidly. In…
Recap of Recent Pieces on Just Security (Oct. 28-Nov. 3)
Cybersecurity and Cyber Conflict Robert S. Taylor, Cyber, Sovereignty, and North Korea–And the Risk of Inaction Michelle Richardson and Mike Godwin, What the White House Needs…
Recap of Recent Pieces on Just Security (Oct. 21-27)
Russia Investigation and Facebook Ryan Goodman, Top Experts: Can Facebook Legally Disclose Russian Ads–What does the Stored Communications Act say? Artin Afkhami, Former Federal…
Pluses and Minuses of the Imminence Standard in Counterterrorism Strikes
Last month, I wrote on the revisions that the Trump Administration reportedly plans to make to President Obama’s drone policy. The piece set off a robust conversation with…
The Newly Relaxed Rules of Engagement in Afghanistan and Civilian Casualties
Military Times reported Monday that Secretary of Defense Mattis, appearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford told a pair…
Acknowledging the Harm Done to Civilians by the U.S.-Led Coalition in Syria
Ahed is an 11 year-old Syrian girl whose life was upended on the evening of March 20 when an airstrike hit the school near Raqqa where she and her family had sought shelter. Ahed…
Easing Restrictions on US Killings Outside War Zones Would be a Serious Mistake
President Donald Trump is poised to rescind some of the key rules crafted by the Obama administration that restrain the use of armed drones and other lethal operations outside…
Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Decision to Kill
The decision to kill other humans lies at the heart of concerns over Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS). Human judgment regarding whether lives will be taken and objects destroyed…
Legal Questions About the Airstrike Against the ISIS “Happy Journeys” Convoy
This week American-led airstrikes deterred the advance of a convoy carrying a group of ISIS fighters and civilians as it traveled from Lebanon to an ISIS safe-haven in Syria. The…